The Departed & The Chosen
collage (altered Polaroid, map, anatomical illustration, and child’s dress pattern) with Neocolors II in altered book
9 3/8 x 11 3/4 inches
The Departed (a found poem)
Our departure
cost nothing less
and offered freedom
from entanglement.
The Chosen (a found poem)
The chosen
arranged
according to the measure
of influence and power.
There are several pieces that I’ve been meaning to re-shoot, because the original photos I took were total crap. I did a couple this afternoon. I did both straight-up versions as well as tarting them up in Photoshop. It’s kind of interesting when a piece can have two lives, both as an artwork and as a photograph.
Remembering Beatrice Stone
I got an e-mail a couple of years ago from a guy who was looking for genealogical information on Beatrice Stone. I hated to break it to him that the name was made up. Using an old college yearbook, I took a first name from column A and a last name from column B.
Epitaph for Eula Strange
Epitaph for Eula Strange
I dread for me
living one mute day every time
an allusive and subtle communication
an ever present affliction
clutching to me
an old thought to gnaw on.
I am afraid
out of worth
without words
caught and reduced and disorganized
like dreaming of sleep
and the taste of dry bones.
The Martyrs
collage and watersoluble crayons in altered book
9 3/8 x 11 3/4 inches
The Martyrs (a found poem)
Empty martyrs,
blind guides,
maddening to pin down;
Wildly inconsistent
but others only pretended piety.
Questions divided
to find a clear answer,
Rituals culminated
in spite of all this,
Convincingly argued,
they celebrated
as a sacrament
such contradictions.
The Heretics
collage and watersoluble crayons in altered book
9 3/8 x 11 3/4 inches
The Heretics (a found poem)
When discovered among themselves –
Grudgingly respected,
Arrogant upstarts who threatened
the message,
Engaged in conversation with
such dissident seekers
With deeper insights
derived from deeper mysteries –
For the first time
The heretics speak to us
in their own words.
I’m a little ambivalent about how this turned out, visually. I’d probably change some things if I could. It’s a start, though, and starting is always the hardest part.
I should also point out that I cropped and pasted the two pages together, so that there is no gutter or white space. I had to scan them separately, because the book is too large to fit on my scanner bed. Didn’t I say that the next book was going to be small enough to fit? I lied.
I tried to join a new(ish) Yahoo group for bookbinding and art journaling, and I was denied. Denied, I say! I think that’s kind of funny. It’s not like I need another group’s worth of mail to slog through or anything, but I got irritated with the idiocy at AJ2 and didn’t migrate to the new group when it morphed. I figured that replacing it with another visual journaling type group might not be a bad idea, but I guess maybe it was!
The Heretics
When discovered among themselves —
Grudgingly respected,
Arrogant upstarts who threatened
the message,
Engaged in conversation with
such dissident seekers
With deeper insights
derived from deeper mysteries —
For the first time
The heretics speak to us
in their own words.
I started a new project last night: another altered book. While flipping through it, trying to decide how to get started (aieee!), a couple of phrases jumped out at me. I got out a pencil and blocked out a few words. And then a few more. And a few more.
Pear Journal
90lb Stonehenge paper Coptic bound with waxed linen thread and recycled notebook covers
9 1/2 x 6 inches, 9 signatures of 2 sheets (36 pages)
Bound 22 May 2007
Started 6 November 2007
Finished 13 December 2007
Red Pear (detail)
d’Anjou Pear
collage with Neocolors II and eraser stamp on 90lb Stonehenge paper
Detail
I have one pear left to do, plus the title page and, if I feel inclined, the cover. Now that the project is nearly over, I guess it’s about time that I got a blue/yellow one that I like. And in eeevil watercolor, no less!
Asian Pear (detail)
I (sort of) tried the pear crisp recipe, as promised. I used Bartlett and d’Anjou pears, and substituted sucanat for brown sugar and old-fashioned rolled oats for quick oats. It worked fine. The oats were a bit chewy, which is to be expected, but it was damn tasty. However, in the future, I think I’ll dust each layer of pears with flour, because the juice was pretty runny.
Pear Crisp
1/2 C rolled oats, uncooked
1/4 C packed brown sugar
2 Tbls flour
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 C cold butter
3 sliced pears
2 Tbls lemon juice
Preheat oven 375F
Combine first 6 ingredients in bowl, cutting butter with knives or a pastry cutter. Toss sliced pears with lemon juice. Layer pears in 9 inch pie pan and top with oatmeal mixture. Bake for 20 minutes.
red paper boat 